Caption: Giant sequoia 'Wawona' tree, with a tourist car driving through the road passing through the base of its trunk. This specimen of the giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) is in Mariposa Grove, Yosemite Valley, California, USA. Found on the western slopes of California's Sierra Nevada Mountains at an altitude of between 1400 and 2400 metres, these trees are among the largest and most massive living things on Earth. This one was 69 metres tall and nearly 8 metres in diameter. The 'Wawona' tree had this tunnel cut through it in 1881. It fell in 1969 in heavy snow. It was thought to have been 2300 years old. Photographed on 15 June 1918.